LAS VEGAS -- You always need some level of luck to succeed in baseball, and that just hasn’t been easy to come by for Lawrence Butler for most of this season.
Entering Friday’s 6-4 A’s win over the Rockies at Las Vegas Ballpark, the gap between Butler’s actual batting average of .165 and expected batting average (xBA) of .264 was tied for the largest difference of any hitter in MLB. The difference between his expected wOBA (based on quality of contact, strikeouts and walks) of .307 and actual wOBA of .234 was the largest. Meanwhile, the discrepancy between his actual slugging percentage (.256) and expected slugging percentage (xSLG) of .367 was the third-largest of any hitter.
It has been a challenging year for Butler as one of baseball’s unluckiest hitters. What better place for his luck to finally change than Sin City?
Signs of a turnaround began on Wednesday night, when he delivered a clutch two-run blast against the Brewers that put the A’s ahead for good. Coming off the bench in Friday’s series opener against the Rockies, Butler was the recipient of some more good fortune, scoring the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as a result of an errant throw by catcher Hunter Goodman after Butler had veered too far off third base.
It wasn’t all luck, though. Butler created that seventh-inning rally by leading off with a booming double off the right-field wall. One inning later, he added an important insurance run by lining an RBI single to center.
“We were talking on Wednesday about how a game like that can get you going,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “Another great day for Law. It’s good to see him get results when he’s put in so much work.”
While Butler’s two late hits will get the glory, Kotsay pointed to his plate appearance in the fifth as an igniter for him. Pinch-hitting for Colby Thomas against Rockies right-hander Seth Halvorsen following back-to-back homers by Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz, Butler fell behind in a 1-2 count and managed to lay off three consecutive sliders to draw a seven-pitch walk.
That walk may not show up as being very impactful in the box score, but Kotsay viewed it as one that brought Butler confidence for the rest of the night.
“The at-bat that he took to draw a walk was really what opened him up,” Kotsay said. “You could see how pumped up he was about laying off three good sliders down below the zone.”
Butler agreed with his manager’s assessment.
“It did [get me going],” Butler said. “[Halvorsen’s] a good pitcher. He was throwing 99 [mph]. It’s pretty hard to hit 99 coming off the bench, especially with a banger offspeed pitch like he has. That was a huge walk for me.”
Adding further credence that things might finally be trending upward for Butler was his eighth-inning knock. Through his slumping start to the year, the left-handed-hitting Butler has been relegated to mostly platoon duty against righties, entering the night just 4-for-30 (.133) against lefties. On Friday, that RBI single in the eighth came off a left-hander in Brennan Bernardino.
“I hope so,” Butler said when asked if he feels like his luck might be turning around. “It felt good being able to put the ball in play and see it hit the ground. Also got a clutch hit against a lefty to bring in another run and made some good plays [on defense]. I’m just hoping things start turning around for me.”
We know what Butler is capable of when he’s going well. His second-half tear in 2024 earned him a seven-year, $65.5 million contract extension the following offseason. Even in a down 2025, he still became the first A’s player to record a 20-homer, 20-steal season since Coco Crisp in 2013.
Whether he goes on a heater or not, Butler’s first priority is winning, which the A’s have done plenty of this week. They’re now 3-1 during this special six-game Las Vegas Series and just one win from pushing their record (34-35) back to .500 for the first time since May 25.
“Definitely feels good to be able to help the team,” Butler said. “That’s all I really care about. That’s all any of us in here really care about.”